Radiant Hope was a funny name, especially when given to somepony who doesn't have much hope. As luck dictated, it just so happened to be my name.
"Everything's accounted for," I murmured under my own breath. "Let's get started."
In my long and eventful life, lingering in the cavern I called home was my least favorite pastime. The act of striking an awkward conversation with somepony else would rank just above that. In fact, there were few activities I'd call truly rewarding. With time seemingly refusing to march forward for me and only me, there wasn't much out there with a pulse.
Research was the exception. Glorious, secretive, fascinating research made my heart race.
But I had to keep a low profile by any means necessary. Should anypony find out about my past, I figured the twinges in my chest would be the least of my worries.
I violently shook my head. Research needed me right now. Fifty-nine failed experiments brought me to the sixtieth one; this specific experiment was one I've been dabbling with for what had to be at least a year now, though two years was just as likely. My specimen and I became quite attached as a result, though explaining my devotion to what was a illustrious pebble would require an hours long lecture.
"I don't sense much magic. Maybe—"
Today's specimen was one I've been toying with for the past thousand years or so. It had certainly felt like a thousand years, though the joints in my body were devoid of aches and my coat smoother than silk. I even still wore the crystal-like sheen ponies native to the Crystal Empire had.
The time available to me, however, was much less than a thousand years. Should the rumors about it be true, this particular ruby would eventually disintegrate into dust since it was separated from the main chunk. I had a few hours at best, though knowing the nature of experiments, a few hours may as well be a few seconds.
At least it was a breath of fresh air to have today's specimen on my makeshift desk, constructed from the most ragged stones Equestria had to offer. As I rubbed my hoof across its surface, I couldn't help but notice the rough and grainy texture poking me. The specimen, however, was smooth and bright. It was fitting for something which had eluded me for so long, but here it was in all its glory, my heart racing as I blankly stared at it.
I've been yearning to learn more about the ruby ever since that fateful day. I knew the legends of it talking to other ponies. A dear friend of mine heeded the ruby's words and marched down a perilous path. He even cursed me if his parting words were true. Exactly what he did was something I hadn't learned yet.
"Drat." I cringed. "Still nothing."
But that was a story for another day. I only mustered a sigh as I thought about his name, Sombra.
Maybe we'd meet again one day, but I always doubted it. He followed his destiny while I shoved mine off the tallest cliff with the sharpest rocks. Besides, he was long gone now. All that remained of him was a red horn and a muscle-tightening aura if passersby were telling the truth. Some of his presence still lingered.
But with only one pony and a stack of newspapers to provide such information, verification was doubtful. The latter were all shoved to the rightmost corner of the cave or turned to ashes in the name of science.
I clenched my teeth. Now was not the time for recollection.
Now was the time for action.
"Maybe I need to observe it differently. That should do the trick."
With a microscope in hoof, I placed the ruby shard underneath its glass, the pair both glowing under the candlelight. My left eye was as wide as it could possibly be, and as I peered into the microscope, the ruby's geometric surfaces became more apparent. I focused in on the gemstone. Not a scratch ran across its surface. Funny, given this was the same rock that drove my former friend to insanity. And even during our youth, Sombra wasn't what one would call a coordinated pony. He'd meander into inconveniently placed furniture or pounded his hoof against a wall whenever he was angry. I laughed with him for the former and comforted him for the latter.
I still wished there was some marking on the ruby. It'd help me discover if he—
"Radiant Hope!" a voice called out, echoing in the cavern's damp walls. "I'm back!"
Twisting my head to the voice's source, I locked eyes with a stallion and furrowed my brow. "Quiet," I whispered. "What if somepony hears us?"
"Don't worry about them, Hope." The voice paused for a moment, catching his breath. "Besides, nopony else has trotted into this part of the cave for years."
"Years?" I arched an eyebrow. "It's not like we've dug into the depths of Tartarus."
"Yeah, it's been just us for a long time. You'd think somepony would stumble on this site."
I rubbed my muzzle. "That's odd. Why don't I feel older?"
"Don't ask me."
The brown stallion stepped out of the shadows, his gray mane a messy bird's nest as usual, though no birds flew out of it yet. He was none other than my assistant, Nickel. It was another odd name for a pony, given how it hadn't alluded to his talent in the sciences. Yet, with a name like Radiant Hope, I wasn't complaining.
Given how he just appeared one day, calling himself a hermit and immediately offering his assistance in some of my experiments, I learned not to question oddities like that. Nickel often wore a bright smile, whistled catchy tunes, and told jokes whenever we were away from experimenting. Yet any questions I asked of how he knew of certain theorems were vague.
With us participating in secret experiments in some vain attempt to understand the world, we were one puzzling pair. Nickel just gawked at whatever we did while I devised the hypotheses. Nickel never pondered why we had to do these in secret, however. He just went along with each experiment and danced whenever they turned out successful. At least my heartbeat remained calm whenever I informed him of more private matters. But my chest would've tightened if I explained my past with Sombra.
I cleared my throat, then asked, "Where were you?"
Nickel whipped his tail for a moment; dust kicked up into the air. "Take a wild guess."
Around his neck was a tote bag filled with groceries, the recent newspaper, and other goodies; the familiar scent of baked goods tickled my nostrils. The wide grin and the foggy glasses he wore were standard features. His stained lab coat was one of the options he chose today.
"The local market, right?" I answered.
Nodding, Nickel then adjusted his tote bag. "Bingo. Anyway, how's looking at that old rock going?"
I sighed. "About as well as you'd expect."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
Dropping the tote bag, he trudged over to where I stood, peering at the microscope and ruby like a bird perched on my shoulder. I clenched my teeth and waved my hoof in front of his face. After all, this was something from my past—Sombra's past—that could have answers to one of the most mysterious events in Equestrian history. Nickel gawked at it, but I couldn't blame him here.
"Hope, exactly why are you examining this rock?" he questioned.
I raised an eyebrow, my expression perplexed. "Why do you think I'm examining this?" I retorted. "Have you heard about Sombra's rise?"
"You mean that old tale?"
My cheeks turned pale. "What 'old' tale? I lived through it with my own two eyes, so it can't be that old."
"You—" He paused and blinked. "Never mind." Nickel waved his hoof nonchalantly. "Don't worry about it."
"No, what you've said sounds like something I should know."
Nickel shook his head. "No, I honestly don't think you should fret over it. Now tell me, what were you going to say?"
"Okay, so you seem somewhat familiar with Sombra." I exhaled, the memories of that fateful day assaulting my mind. No matter how much I'd rather thrust those sights out of my head and into the sea, they clung onto me like a parasite. I knew fighting it would get me nowhere. "Have you heard about the Umbrum?"
"The what now?"
"The Umbrum, Nickel," I scoffed. "In a hidden dimension of sorts, there exists this world of pony-like beings called Umbrum. Some call them shadow ponies, but I think that's a bit too on the tongue."
"Have you met any of them before?"
I shrugged. "Maybe. Their true forms are supposed to be even rarer than sighting a breezie."
Nickel crept an inch closer to me. Those wide, bright green eyes of his gazed into my soul somehow. "So what does this have to do with Sombra?"
"Sombra was supposed to be an Umbrum and was—" I bit my tongue trying to force the words out "—he was destined to become a ruthless tyrant. Needless to say, given how he overthrew the last ruler by turning her to stone and shattering her, I think he succeeded." I sighed, fidgeting for a moment. "Princess Amore never thought about consequences that much. Still, Sombra's intelligence coupled with his cruelty proved to be a dangerous combination."
"No wonder you claimed to have lived through it." Nickel playfully nudged my shoulder. I hid a groan as best I could, though my cheeks reddened. I wished I could plant a hoof in his face. "You sure know a lot about it."
"That's because I actually lived through it." I peered back into the microscope, further examining the ruby. Yet, even as I flipped the gemstone around in my hooves, nothing out of the ordinary leaped out at me. Only my reflection in its clean, gleaming texture was what I spotted. "I was friends with Sombra before he turned cruel."
"You're lying." Wrinkles ran across Nickel's forehead; he furrowed his brow.
Despite his penchant for partying about, he sometimes donned a scowl fiercer than a hydra's in an instant. I often turned pale during such altercations; this was no different.
I turned to Nickel, my eyes locking with his. I felt the sheer frustration welling up inside and waiting to erupt. "Excuse me?"
"Look, Sombra's rise to power happened a thousand years ago."
"Impossible." I crossed my forelegs. "I'd be long gone by then if that was true."
"It's true." Stepping back, he reached into his tote bag and procured today's newspaper, unfurling it in a frenzy. "Go on, look at this newspaper and tell me what you see."
I sighed, planting a hoof to my cheek. Knowing Nickel would've pestered me if I refused, I swiped the newspaper with my other hoof and scrutinized it. It was a newspaper, that much was certain, though it had a different feel to it than the ones I read in the past. The paper was smoother than I remembered and the writing was much neater. I recalled the small text old newspapers had and needing a magnifying glass to read it.
My eyesight wasn't abysmal. I recalled being able to read signs at a reasonable distance before—whenever before was. And to think that newspaper had the audacity to not even list dates. I'd never heard of any paper doing such a thing.
Decades had to have flown past since then.
I then brought my eyes to the top story.
Element Bearers Liberate Town!
August 15, 1101
"Wait a second," I muttered to myself.
My heart lodged itself into my throat. The blood was rushing out of my cheeks and going anywhere but there. I blinked.
The article's date was still there.
I checked an adjacent article to make sure it wasn't some crazed typo.
The date was the same. Heartbeats filled my ears; my chest was on the verge of exploding.
I checked yet another article, this one about popular restaurants in some place called Ponyville.
The date was the same.
I had to be hallucinating. Either that or Nickel was playing a prank on me. But as I peered into his glistening eyes, I couldn't trace anything which hinted at him lying or holding laughter. I've dealt with Nickel long enough to know he couldn't keep a secret for a second. The poker game we sometimes played to pass the time proved this. He'd sweat whenever the cards were in his favor and I'd read him like an open book.
Not a drop of sweat dripped down his brow. My brow was sopping wet, however.
"This can't be right," I whispered to myself. A chill coursed through my veins.
Sombra's rise to power occurred in 100. The date was etched into my brain. And forgetting the moment when I saw somepony shatter into shrapnel was something no amount of therapy or magical spells could've erased. I had literally lived a thousand years without aging a millisecond.
Of all the things Sombra could've cursed me with, he chose immortality.
"Why?" I murmured to myself.
Nickel cocked his head. "What's wrong?"
Such a curse wouldn't have made sense. Eternal pain or despair was more fitting, but immortality?
And trying to piece together why I missed a thousand years flying past only caused headaches. I cringed, the taste of bitter vomit forming in my mouth.
Then again, maybe eternal life was the point. He knew I'd be depressed since our falling out the last time we locked eyes with each other. My heart was already trapped in the abyss. Perhaps eternal suffering crossed his mind when he decided where I'd end up.
Bugs crawled in my stomach. Widened eyes and shrunken pupils were the only facial expressions I mustered.
"You okay, Hope?" a concerned Nickel asked. His visage was grim, though absolutely pleasant compared to what mine probably looked like. "You look like you saw a ghost."
"I-I might have," I meekly replied. "Nickel?"
"Yes?"
"Is it theoretically possible for somepony to become immortal?"
"Excuse me?" He adopted a bemused expression and hunched his shoulders. "Did you seriously just say immortal?"
"I did." I took multiple deep breaths. Yet the twangs throughout my muscles refused to leave. "Tell me, Nickel."
"Tell me what?"
"Were those dates real?"
He paused for a moment and slowly nodded. "They were. I wouldn't fake anything like that."
"But maybe Celestia or Luna knows about immortality! They'll prove that this is just some misunderstanding!""
Nickel's shoulders drooped. A sigh left his mouth. "I wish I knew."
"But some average unicorn becoming immortal makes no sense, right?"
"It doesn't. Sounds more like something from a cheesy fairy tale than something actually possible."
Sighing, I turned back to the microscope, the ruby still present. "That's what doesn't make sense." I pressed my hoof against the stone desk, cringing. "I can't be immortal." Raising my foreleg back up, I placed my hoof on my cheek. "Please tell me I'm not going crazy."
Nickel remained silent.
My heart lodged itself into my throat. I could barely breathe. "Okay, so what will it take to prove I'm not crazy?"
He tilted his head a bit, left eyebrow arched. "You sure you're immortal?"
I hesitantly nodded, though there wasn't any point in lying. "I saw Sombra. I was friends with him once. Nopony lives this long!"
"Is this part of why you're studying that rock now?"
"Ruby." I extended my hoof toward Nickel. "It's a ruby. And no, I never knew I lived this long. I thought time was just that slow." My chest expanded and contracted rapidly. If a bucket was nearby, I'd probably let all of the tension out of my mouth. "So please, let me figure out if this ruby can explain the Umbrum."
"Okay, ruby. Look, nothing's going to show up if you haven't found anything yet, so maybe you should call it quits and try something else tomorrow."
I brought my focus back to Nickel, a disgusted visage plastered on me. "Give up? Why would I give up?"
"Do you even know what you're looking for?"
"Of course I do!" With tautened cheeks, I bobbed my head.
"Do you even have the time to search for it?"
My limbs froze for a moment as I pondered Nickel's question. With a deep breath, I muttered, "Yes."
Nickel cracked a smile. "Good. Now tell me, what are you looking for? We've shared experiments with each other before, but why is this one different?"
"I'm trying to understand the magic of Umbrum, but I only have an hour or so with this gemstone. Sharing is out of the question."
"You sure?" Nickel feigned a chuckle. "Look, I think you're going about this the wrong way."
"Honestly, I'm—" I shook my head "—I'm doing this the right way. I have to be."
"Then tell me the truth, Hope." Nickel cracked a smile. "I won't judge."
"I'm trying to reunite with Sombra—the old Sombra." I wiped my eyes, my vision becoming wet and blurry for a second. A rather pungent taste touched my lips; they puckered in an instant. The liquid tickled my coat as it cascaded down my cheeks, though the sensation ceased soon enough. "I want to see his smile again and for us to live a normal life. That's all."
"And how's this hunk of ruby going to help?"
I shrugged. "Honestly, I wish I knew. This is more of a hypothesis if anything."
"Let's try again." Nickel exhaled, his breath smelling of onions. "Why did you think it'd help?"
"Because if what I've heard is true, then this ruby was where Sombra's descent into madness began." I squinted at the shard; its red color was somewhat dimmer than before, yet bright enough to where I still saw my own reflection. Bringing the ruby back to the microscope, I peered into the instrument and fiddled with the gem again. "The Umbrum are related to this gemstone for some reason, and I must know why."
"But what's getting back with Sombra going to do?"
Nickel poked my shoulder and I flinched. Sighing, I averted my gaze from the microscope and made eye contact with him.
"Hope, do you want to be happy?"
I nodded. Why wouldn't I want happiness? Being separated from it for literally a thousand years made my chest twinge at the thought; merely reuniting with joy would've ranked as one of my top wishes.
Nickel rubbed his muzzle. He assumed a quizzical expression and furrowed his brow.
"Something on your mind?" I asked. The answer was obviously a 'yes,' though I figured I'd ask anyway.
"There is," said Nickel. He cleared his throat. "You do know what will happen should you revive Sombra?"
"What?" I tilted my head and arched an eyebrow.
"He'll immediately cause a ruckus and swear vengeance on the princesses, duh." Nickel stretched his forelegs out, the visage he wore scrunching and twisting further. "You seriously think he'll come back as Prince Charming or something?"
"I can bring him back to normal!" My eyes stung as I trudged toward Nickel. "I can do this!"
"You can't! Hope, I'm sorry, but reviving Sombra is just going to cause problems! Watch, if you bring Sombra back, all of the progress Equestria has made since you've cut yourself off from civilization will crumble!" He groaned, rolling his eyes. "Do you want that?" He then sighed and donned a somber face. In a quieter tone, he continued, "Hope, listen to me when I say this."
My ears twitched.
"Do you seriously want to meet Sombra again? If yes, do you know what the consequences will be?"
I pursed my lips. Twiddling my mane, I adopted a downcast expression and meekly nodded. I was set on seeing Sombra return in his joyful, enthusiastic, and curious form. Even if it was a thousand years in reality, the last moments I had with him may as well have been yesterday. His jokes and laughs always soothed my ears, as did his charisma. But since destiny—a concept I wished I could toss into the nearest disposal bin—decided he'd take another path, those days were over.
My heart sank into the abyss. It was far too late to do anything about Sombra. But his curse still lingered over me like a putrid stench. Even with his swift defeat at the hooves of somepony named Cadance, I was as young and devoid of wrinkles as ever.
"Hope?" asked Nickel. Worry was painted on his face. The sagging lips said it all.
"Yes?" I responded.
"Do you just want Sombra, or do you want the Sombra you loved?"
"The latter."
"I don't mean to be a butt about it, but that might be impossible." Nickel sighed and gently kicked the air. He averted his gaze from my eyes for a second, only he brought it back to me seconds later. "Sorry, Hope. Even if you could travel back in time, I doubt things would've been different."
Standing as tall as I could, I scrunched my muzzle. "No! Sombra could've been saved!"
"Nonsense!" Nickel nudged an inch back; his eyes were the size of dinner plates. "How?"
"He just needed to be warned and told what to do before things got out of hoof." That much was true. The memories of sitting by his bedside and caring for him during those dreadful hours were also incidents which refused to escape me. Those bloodcurdling screeches and his twitching drove swords through my heart just at the sight, my heart reacting in much the same way as I stood before Nickel. Sombra and I were connected that day. "That's all."
"Look, do you want to continue searching for a method to revive a Sombra who'll never be the one you befriended, or do you want to be happy? And remember, instantly getting your friend back the way he was will never happen. That ship set sail long ago."
"Are you—"
"Positive."
I reached a fork in the road. One path was to do anything I could to reunite with Sombra, even if it meant I'd have to ally myself with criminals and ne'er-do-wells in order to get there. The other path before me was to accept my time in seeing his cheerful, playful, and captivating smile again had run out.
I bit my lip and exhaled. As tempting as risking it all was, I had to take the moral option.
But the moral option wasn't just giving up. Even if the old Sombra was doomed to never return centuries ago, a hidden path nevertheless nestled between the two paths, one which was the best of both worlds. Maybe I was going about it the wrong way. Perhaps all those years of searching for a method to reunite with the true Sombra were just wasting my time.
Time already ran out long ago. But I'd still continue to search for clues to making everything a happy ending. Whether the details of my curse were true or not, I had to keep on marching with my head held up high.
Maybe there was a more sensible, safer method of saving him.
"Nickel?" I murmured.
"Did you think of something?"
I crossed my forelegs, shoulders sagging. "I think you might be right. Maybe I should just let things be. But—" I paused and collected my thoughts "—but I can't give up."
"Are you sure?" asked Nickel. "It's not like you have any other options."
"I may be out of time in bringing back the Sombra I knew." A faint smile adorned my face. "But perhaps I can recapture that image in another way. I've got an eternity and was cursed with nothing to do but mope." The last sentence was like arsenic on my tongue. While I was far from the jolliest mare around, the idea of moping for another thousand years was better suited for a punishment in Tartarus. "But moping would be giving into the curse. Just because my first plan didn't pan out doesn't mean I still can't succeed with some modifications."
Silence filled the air, though the rustling of a cool breeze outside broke it at times. Nickel tapped his hoof on the ground; rocks shuffled around beneath him and some pebbles gently rolled toward me.
Soon enough, he patted my shoulder and nodded. "Hope, you can also use your talents in order to make the world a better place. Don't think you have to hide just because of your past."
I stepped back, eyes widened. "Won't ponies be afraid of me for being friends with—you know—Sombra? It's why I've hidden myself for so long."
"Nonsense!" A hearty chuckle escaped his lips. I joined in with some faint laughs of my own. "I've seen plenty of crazy characters in my lifetime. And the crazy ones are always the best to spend time with."
I cracked the slightest of smiles. Something about Nickel's words tickled my heart and warmed me up like a blanket. "Maybe I will venture outside. I haven't seen the sun in a while—" I twitched "—or a long time. Still, are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Yep! I'll get you started on everything and you'll fit in before you know it." He paused for a second before raising his hoof. "And one more thing."
Turning to face Nickel, I locked eyes with him. "What is it?"
"I don't give a flying feather if you're young or old. Whether you're young or old or even a bit odd, you're my friend. I know you mean well, and that's what's most important, so don't fret about me not believing your past." He patted my back. "I'm here for you, and don't you forget that."
"Um, okay. I'll keep that in mind." I then snickered. "And yeah, I understand why you'd not believe my past. I'll try to not worry about it."
I nodded once more. The moment I glanced back at my desk, the ruby became a pile of ashes, all of it swept away by a breeze and carried off to the unknown a second later. While I would've flailed about and screamed at the top of my lungs until they burnt up in the past, I only released a sigh instead. A lot of weight was lifted off of my shoulders, almost as if I could move freely once more.
And as I stared at the cave's entrance, sunlight trickling down from the sky and onto my face, I couldn't help myself from donning a bright grin. Had I gone through with immediately reviving the cruel Sombra, I probably would've done something I'd later regret.
There still had to be a solution out there. Even if recapturing the magic of the old Sombra was a lost cause long ago, a bitter pill to swallow, I knew there was still something out there. Equestria was a land full of magic, after all. And magic, if my studies were anything to go by, always worked in mysterious manners.
For once, I had a little confidence in my step. The tingling sensations from my recent discovery still lingered, but I kept my head held up high.
Maybe there was a place in the world for me after all; the same story must've applied to Nickel, enigmatic as ever.
But Nickel was my friend. If he yearned to withhold any private information from me, than so be it. All that mattered was us sharing smiles, laughs, and discovering more about the world.
Radiant Hope was a more fitting name after all. It just took a thousand years for me to piece it together.
